


Hooked

by InquisitorBull



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Angst, F/F, F/M, Not Beta Read, One-Sided Attraction, We Die Like Men, mentions of past bullying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:48:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21672757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InquisitorBull/pseuds/InquisitorBull
Summary: A few significant moments among many for Leon in his mental journey dealing with his crush on Gloria.
Relationships: Hop/Yuuri | Gloria (one-sided?), Leon/Yuuri | Gloria (one-sided?), Rurina | Nessa/Sonia (mentioned)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 32





	Hooked

**Author's Note:**

> In my headcanon, Gloria and Hop are 18, Leon and Sonia are 23. 
> 
> Tried not to stick to and just rewrite the story.

It'd been a long journey to get to Postwick for Leon, mostly because he'd gotten lost several times, but he'd finally gotten his brother and his friend Gloria their Pokemon and was sitting down for some barbecue with the whole family and neighbours. Gloria had eaten a lot less than everyone else, against the insistence of her mother and Hop to do otherwise, and had gone to play with her newest little Scorbunny a little ways away. After she'd walked away, Hop visibly couldn't focus on his food and kept looking over to Gloria with deep seeded worry in his eyes, to which Leon took notice.

Glancing over at Gloria, he'd finally had a moment to take in the details of her that he couldn't before, having had a hectic return. She was short, maybe coming to five feet tall at most, with snow white hair and straight cut bangs, and the most unique dark black eyes that betrayed barely a hint of emotion. If it weren't for his little brothers impeccable ability to judge good people from bad people, he would've hesitated at giving Gloria a Pokemon, having developed a habit of judging people from their appearances as he became Champion and had to scrutinize the people around him more carefully. He knew now after meeting her that he'd been wrong about a few of his previous hesitations, such as the no emotion in her eyes, as they were full of love and wonder when she looked at Scorbunny.

"No one used to look closely, you know, back in school," Hop said from beside him, interrupting him from his deep thought. When he glanced over in confusion, his brother continued, "she moved here and finished school here right after you left, and she was immediately the target of bullying because of her eyes and hair, things about herself she didn't have control over, and she... she never deserved it." As Leon listened to him, he took note of Hop's sharpened demeanor, having never looked so serious and so upset before in front of Leon. "No one saw how much she loves Pokemon, or the fact she takes care of her plants like every individual one is precious, no one heard her sing when she brushes a Wooloo's hair." Switching his view back from Hop to Gloria, Hop continued, "so... thank you for bringing her a Pokemon too, I wouldn't go without her, she deserves to follow her dreams."

As Gloria glanced over at Leon with a smile that reached her eyes, Leon's heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't help but agree.

\-----

The next time he had a chance to sit down with Hop and Gloria to eat was in a Motostoke restaurant, both fresh off their Fire badge wins and Hop near starving for a meal. The entire conversation was relaxing and peaceful, with Gloria eating more than normal at the insistence of Hop who pestered her about keeping her energy high for the next gym. Leon's smile faltered for a moment, watching them interact having reminded him of the feelings he knew were cropping up in Hop's heart, even if his little brother couldn't see them himself. Leon was undeniably and completely jealous of his brother, jealous of the fact the sweet girl he'd come to watch and fall for wasn't sitting beside him, wasn't paying special attention to him. He plastered back on a fake smile a moment later however and continued on the conversation, trying to forget that Gloria wasn't his to be jealous over in the first place. 

As they stepped out of the restaurant, sun setting and Gloria yawning, Leon decided it was time to get them back to their hotel rooms. Hop, utilizing his endless amount of energy, had proposed a race back to the hotel, and took off before Leon could stop him. Glancing at Gloria, he could tell she was far too tired to run, so he slowed down his walking to a pace she'd be comfortable with and just glanced up at the sky as the stars slowly began peeking out at them. It was perfect, the only thing he'd change about this moment was the tightness in his chest telling him to not reach for her hand and hold it tight. That would change quickly however, when in his thoughtful state he took a wrong turn and Gloria quickly reached out her hand to his, taking it in an attempt to stop him from getting himself horribly lost.

Glancing back at her, she looked up at him with tired, affectionate eyes. "You're going the wrong way Leon, again. Sometimes I wonder how you ever get anywhere." He chuckled at that and held her hand tight, deciding to be selfish for a brief moment of contact, "yeah, I suppose you'll have to hold my hand and lead me the right way." With a nod, she did just that, leading him back to the hotel where Hop would be waiting in the lobby.

The walk would be entirely too short for his liking.

\-----

After the debacle with Chairman Rose in his tower, and Hop and Gloria coming to find him, he'd finally had a moment to relax before the big moment of truth tomorrow. He was reviewing the battles of all of the trainers making it to the semi-finals, anticipating that any one of them could be facing him in the final battle if they made it. Beside him was one of his closest friends, Sonia, who'd taken a keen notice when he leaned forward and paid extra special attention to Gloria's last battle with Raihan. "You know, Leon, maybe you should just tell her how you feel before it's too late, you're going to regret it forever if you don't." Her comment was enough to make him snap out of his thoughts and glance at her, putting a fake confused look on and replying, "I don't know what you're talking about, I just haven't seen anyone fought with her skill in such a long time, and Hop is clearly learning from her every time he loses as well, I bet you they're both going to make it far."

Sonia sighed and leaned back in her chair, shaking her head, "remember when I thought Nessa was in love with Milo for the longest time, and I wasn't going to tell her what I felt? And then you told me that Inaction was just as bad as bad action, that I'd only be hurting myself by being silent. Look at us now, Nessa has even hinted at getting married soon, that never would've happened if you hadn't pushed me." Leon finally paused the video and broke the look on his face, laying down completely on his sofa and glancing up at the ceiling. "Sonia my brother is in love with her, I can see it every time he looks at her, he hasn't even held this much reverence for Pokemon battling. What if.. because I'm the champion she feels like she can't say no, or she doesn't want to hurt me, or what if she does say no and it ruins everything we have going on so far. What if she loves me too, and that ruins my relationship with my brother and hurts him forever?"

With a nod, she took in everything he said and sighed, "well it is a sticky situation, but I know Hop and Gloria very well now. For one, Hop would never stay mad at you both forever, he just wants to see you and Gloria be happy, and Gloria would never let something like this ruin her friendships with either you or Hop, she'd never lie to you and lead you on." Sitting up, he nodded and they both sat in silence for a few minutes before he spoke up. "Okay, I'll tell her after everything is done tomorrow, I don't want this to get in the way of her battles or distract her." Sonia grinned, coming over to him and patting him on his shoulder before turning and walking to the front door.

"Well, I have some more research to get to, I'll be rooting for you Leon." And then she stepped out, and he was left alone in his apartment. As he chewed on one of his nails, he turned back to his television, and continued watching Gloria battle.

\-----

Everything was finally over, Gloria and Hop managed to stop the Darkest Day from happening again, Chairman Rose was taken into custody, and Leon was dethroned as the Champion by the very girl he'd come to fall in love with. He couldn't help but feel more tired today than he'd had in his entire life, every bit of every moment requiring his complete attention and effort. But he couldn't go back to his apartment yet, he'd made a metal promise to himself and to Sonia that he'd finally do the thing that would stress him out the most today, tell Gloria how he'd felt. And that's why he was making his way to her locker room before the mandatory celebration that would come, he didn't have a lot of time before her attention was scooped away by reporters and fans. Using his authority and charisma to get past some of the workers set to prevent anyone from sneaking in, he made his way to the private changing area set up just for her, and went to knock on the door before realizing it was already open.

Peeking his head in, his heart dropped from his chest to his stomach and his head began spinning at the sight of Gloria in Hops arms, Hops back facing him and Gloria in a much clearer view to Leon. It was clear as day they were kissing, with Gloria's eyelids fluttering gently as she figured out where to put her hands that would be comfortable for them both. It was so naive, so clearly her first kiss, Leon couldn't help but mentally comment that Hop was obviously going too fast for Gloria to properly keep up. Leon would've slowed down, eased her into it, made her comfortable and protected and - her eyes were open and staring right at him. His entire world stopped as Gloria made eye contact and it felt like the moment lasted forever before Hop said something that had her briefly looking at him. Leon would be gone before she could look back at him. 

He would be in his apartment planning a short vacation to Alola before he could ever really find out whether Gloria and Hop decided to be together.

**Author's Note:**

> I literally started writing this as a Leon/Gloria story and as I wrote, I thought... what if I.... broke my own heart :) so I did
> 
> I tried to leave it up to interpretation who she'd end up with, which relationship was one-sided or if both were. Who knows, maybe if I get inspiration for it, I'll write a follow up with a decision.


End file.
